The Listening
by ohwhatsherface
Summary: The night her husband returns home bloody and barely conscious and alone, she knows that his mission went terribly, terribly wrong.
1. parent

**Title: **The Listening**  
Note: **I was playing with writing styles here so... bear with me?  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_

* * *

Sometimes, when he can find no one else, the Hokage calls upon Fugaku to carry out certain missions that require an Uchiha — certain _ANBU_ missions. Mikoto never quite approves of this; she never enjoys seeing her husband's sad attempt at refolding the clothes that cover the box he keeps his armour and mask in; she never gets used to the idea that when her favourite cream shirt lacks its usual pristine folds, then Fugaku is leaving that night. But Mikoto is a ninja as well. She understands duty and obligation and that orders are orders. So when the time comes that the Hokage can find no one else and he calls upon Fugaku to carry out a certain (ANBU) mission that requires an Uchiha, even though Mikoto doesn't quite approve, she stiffly kisses her husband on the cheek and says her goodbyes as he gives Itachi a _look_ and softly puts a hand on her belly. Then she spends the day with Itachi, cooking and playing and trying to pick a name for his coming brother, and prays — _prayspraysprays _— that Fugaku will return safely.

This is why she pities Koizumi Hana.

The night her husband returns home bloody and barely conscious and _alone_, she knows the mission went terribly, terribly wrong. He passes out from blood loss almost immediately after reaching the village and is taken back to the Compound where the clan's medic heals him right away. Mikoto stays at bedside for days and when he finally wakes, he solemnly tells her what happened.

Ambush, he murmurs. Typical, Mikoto thinks. How typical of him to use a single word to explain so many injuries. But he goes on; he tells her as much as he can to explain his situation without revealing anything confidential. Her husband is a ninja to his very core and more often than not, Mikoto doesn't think that that's a good thing.

Fugaku looks troubled. It's surprising that he looks _anything_. Then he smirks. He shakes his head and takes her hand in his, a surprising but not unwelcomed gesture.

I should have died.

He feels her tense. She blinks rapidly to push back the tears. It would be silly — very, very silly — to cry over something hypothetical, especially in front of her husband. So Mikoto nods and looks down at their joined hands and works hard not to think about the prospective life as a widow. What a dreadful life that would be.

Haruno Yukio.

When she raises her head she sees that the smirk is gone. Everything is gone, actually. He's Fugaku again with the usual stern, hard features of stone that show nothing. Haruno Yukio saved his life on that mission and the man didn't even know him.

Why?

Fugaku doesn't know. That much is evident when frustration creeps into his visage. Mikoto wonders what bothers him, but given her husband's system of honour, she knows it has to do with obligation. Haruno Yukio wasn't married, but he certainly had a family.

So she pities Koizumi Hana.

Mikoto's met the woman a few times. She's a civilian. She's a doctor at Konoha General — a surgeon. The last time Mikoto saw Koizumi Hana had been two months ago when Itachi had come down with the flu. For whatever reason the woman was helping them and she was incredibly patient despite Itachi's sullen attitude and poor manners at the time (for he was sick). Yes. Mikoto remembers her clearly now. She can recall the peculiar pink hair pulled sloppily into a bun with a pen stuck in it; the way her bangs fell into her brown eyes. She can envision the navy blue letters of her name stitched into her lab coat. She can also see the clear swell of her pregnant belly beneath the flaps of her jacket.

That poor woman. Now she's all alone. That poor child. Now—

Fugaku takes Mikoto away from her thoughts when his hands fall onto her growing midsection.

We should help them.

We will.


	2. child

Sasuke didn't like Sakura.

He didn't like her pink hair. It was weird and long and always fell over her eyes. Whenever _his_ hair fell into _his_ eyes he'd push it away because mother said it was silly to cover his face. So why did she? In fact, she tended to put them there like she wanted to hide behind them. She was so _weird_! He also didn't like how she always had a book with her. He liked his stuffed dinosaur but who the heck carried around _books_? He especially didn't like that _his_ older brother _commended_ her for that.

_And what did 'coh-mend' mean anyway?_

So what if she knew her colours and her ABCs and how to count to some number Sasuke _didn't_ know? So what if she knew that one plus one equalled two?

"_A window?" she'd repeated when he gave his response to the question. Then she giggled her stupid giggle, "Sasuke-kun is silly."_

Sakura Haruno irritated him most when she came over with her mother – the lady who gave him lollipops at the hospital (though he didn't like candy so he fed it to his dinosaur) with hair just like Sakura's. But Sasuke didn't mind _her_ hair. _She_ was okay. She wasn't _annoying_ like Sakura.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," mother greeted. She bent down and picked Sakura up and Sasuke scowled from where he hid behind the kitchen counter. She never carried _him_ anymore! Mother didn't even notice his frown. She kissed Sakura on the cheek. "How are you, darling?"

Sakura didn't reply though. She stared downwards to the point that her chin was touching her chest. Then she smiled and her face turned red and she shook her head wildly. What did _that_ mean? God, she was so _weird_.

"Would you like to play with Sasuke-chan?" mother asked her. Then Sasuke grew stiff. He looked at Sakura with wide eyes. She looked too happy. Ugh. She nodded. "Why don't you go up to his room?" Then she put her down and Sakura ran off.

Sasuke stayed very still. He could go up and deal with her company

_"Want to play hide-and-seek?"  
__"No."  
__"Want a lollipop?"  
__"No."  
__"Sasuke-kun, are you sad? Do you want a hug?"  
__"No!"_

or he could stay down in the kitchen. He hid under the sink one time to hide from mother when he accidentally (it really, really was an accident) broke one of her vases. It took her ten minutes to find him. But if he stayed there then Sakura would probably touch all of his stuff. She'd go through his shinobi gear that Itachi gave him. She'd probably play with his brand new kunai and get her cooties on it or something. Great.

Grumpily, Sasuke scurried out of the kitchen and took an alternate route up to his room. He managed to get there before Sakura so he stood in front of the door and spread his arms protectively.

Sakura just walked closer to him. "Hi, Sasuke-kun," she mumbled, looking at his feet.

Sasuke frowned. What was so special about his _feet_? He was about to ask her but she finally raised her head.

"Do you want to see my new book?" she asked. She took a small paperback out of the canvas bag she'd been carrying around and practically shoved it in his face. There was a big, purple snake on the cover. He only noticed that when she moved it _away_ from his eyes and held it under her chin. "My mommy bought me a book about snakes!" she told him cheerfully.

Again with the books, Sasuke thought irritably.

_"My mommy bought me a book about slugs!  
__"My mommy bought me a book about min-er-als!  
__"My mommy bought me a book about pandas!  
__"My mommy bought me a book about stars!"_

Then she pulled out another one. It was bigger and didn't have any pictures on the cover. In fact, it didn't have that many pictures at all! It was all words and very few photos. How odd, Sasuke thought. This was obviously not hers.

"This one is my mommy's," Sakura said, holding it open to a page with a body drawn on it.

Sasuke frowned, noticing how the man didn't have any skin. He could see the man's ribs and heart and liver and— Sasuke's cheeks reddened when he saw his _wee-wee_. Scowling at Sakura, Sasuke took the book and closed it.

"I'm telling!" he shouted. When her eyes widened and she reached for the book, he raised it above her head knowing he was taller.

"NO!" Sakura yelled back. "Mommy will get mad if she finds out I've been reading her books again!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Of course Sakura would freak out over a book. Sighing, he handed the book back to her and she scurried to put it away. "You're so weird."

She pouted. "I just like books… My mommy bu—"

"Your mommy buys them for you," Sasuke interrupted. "I know! But books are stupid."

"No they're not!" Sakura protested.

"Yes they are," Sasuke continued. "_And _they're boring."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him in an unexpected show of courage. "Well I bet _you_ don't have anything better."

Sasuke snorted. Of course he did. He had toy swords and dinosaurs and ninja action figures. His eyes widened. _Ninjas_! He smirked triumphantly. "Well my father buys me _shinobi stuff_!" When he noticed her shoulders slump and her cheeks turn away, Sasuke didn't feel as proud of his shinobi stuff. Mother did tell him a few times that Sakura didn't have a father because her father saved his father so he should always be nice to Sakura.

"I don't have a daddy," Sakura said quietly. Her eyes were on the floor and Sasuke felt the emptiness in his tummy that he usually got when he broke one of his mother's favourite dishes or he made a mess in his father's office by accident because he was playing Police Chief. When she started playing with the hem of her shirt, Sasuke scratched his chin awkwardly.

"Um." Sasuke poked her to make her look up from the floor. "Um. Well, we can share the shinobi stuff… I guess."

Sakura smiled shyly. "So we'll both be shinobi then, Sasuke-kun?"

He shrugged. "Sure, but I'll be stronger."

"Well, I'll be _smarter_."

So he handed her the dulled kunai and they ran to the backyard, ignoring his mother's silly order to not run with sharp objects because mother, didn't shinobi do that all the time? He showed Sakura how to hold it and how to throw it and when it turned out she was actually sort of kind of a little bit good, he promised he'd teach her the Goukakyuu no Jutsu after his daddy taught him. Then Sakura smiled and Sasuke realized that maybe, just maybe, she was _oh_-kay.

He still didn't like her though.

**fin**


End file.
